Space
The feeling of slowly drifting away from a dreadnaught in a depowered single person craft in complete silence without even a back panel to see behind you was terrifying. It felt like I was tied to a chair, blindfolded, thrown in a large tank of water, with a Wookie somewhere nearby with a bandoleer of thermal charges, and a Bowcaster aimed at my head.
I am not sure how long I sat there, unmoving, somehow scared that if I made too much noise the ship would hear me. Eventually though that fear faded into a mix of boredom and discomfort as my muscles started cramping. I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. Once I started to relax though it opened the floodgates for my boredom to take over.
Exiting the dreadnought had gone well, I think. I had managed to do a short boost as I exited the bay that shouldn't have popped up on their sensors but propelled me forward enough that I was floating away perpendicular to their path. This meant I would be out of the range of their sensors faster, but it would still take several hours unless they jumped into hyperspace.
So, I decided it was time for a nap because that was the only way I could think of to pass time since I couldn't turn on any of my electronics to read while in here. I reached down below me until I found the seat controls. As I started to recline the chair though my finger slipped and pressed a button that from my experience wasn't normally there.
I let out a yelp of surprise, expecting my luck had finally run out and I had accidentally found an extra eject button. Luckily I was proven wrong as the chair suddenly folded back like a bed and rotated to the side, folding back away from the controls. My yelp turned into an actual scream of terror though as I was greeted by a Royal Guard standing over me. It glared down at me through their red visor, their long red robes folded over one shoulder to reveal their battle armor, and the force pike already in their hand.
I screamed until I started getting light headed, not even bothering to protect myself from the unmoving sentinel. It wasn't until I had to stop screaming to breathe that I finally realized they weren't moving at all. Then I realized it wasn't a 'they' at all. It was just an armor stand with the Royal Guards spare armor on it.
Letting out a deep sigh of relief, especially because no one was there to see that, I let my body go limp in the chair, closing my eyes until my heart relaxed. It didn't return to a normal heart rate due to my current situation, but once it had returned to what it had been before I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings.
The spare armor was not the only thing on display in the back of the ship. Helmets lined the back wall. Most of them were adorned with the Alliance Starbird crest of the Rebellion in all shapes and sizes, likely to fit the different species that comprised their ranks. Alongside them were two Mandalorian helmets, one a dark brown durasteel, the other a silvery shining Baskar, an outdated phase II storm trooper helmet, and a dirty brown hood. The only thing that was consistent between them was the dried blood along the bottom rim of them.
As morbid as the display was, an idea started forming in my mind the moment I saw the collection. Half out of boredom, half out of curiosity I sat up and took the Royal Guard helmet off the stand and turned it over. I pulled out the lining and confirmed that it was the real deal as I found the wirepaths that when turned on created a localized magnetic field atop the armor that could deflect blaster bolts.
According to the user manual, our Stormtrooper plastoid-composite armor was supposed to be able to block most blaster fire, but in my experience they said that to make us feel safer. Sometimes it managed to disperse the shot enough that it only knocked the trooper out instead of killing them, but this stuff was way more advanced. Prolonged use was apparently supposed to put a lot of strain on the body, but the more I looked at the wiring the more it tempted me.
My Stormtrooper armor was in my bag next to me, along with the insulating black body glove that helped with the suites environmental control, the only thing that suit was really good for. Amusingly enough, as I looked at the Royal Guard's helmet, I realized its environmental protection was actually way worse than my own.
That was the thought that really got the wheels turning. I reached down and pulled my helmet from my bag and held the two next to each other. After that I looked back at the armor, then the other helmets.
I couldn't go back to Imperial space. Nor could I go to New Republic space since they would probably interrogate, then execute me for having been with the Empire. So, that left the Outer Rim. Which meant I was going to need some protection until I could… what was I going to do?
Become a farmer? No, that sounds awful.
Use this ship and establish myself as an escort pilot? In a red TIE/IN? I don't know, why not just broadcast to everyone that I'm a former Imperial and see if anyone bats an eye when someone tried to kill me and take the ship.
I could join a pirate crew and work on one of their ships. No I couldn't I'd be a terrible pirate. Plus, then I'd have to work with pirates.
… Bounty hunting? I paused at that thought. I mean, my training does translate well to some of the aspects of bounty hunting. But… how does one hunt bounties? I put a pin in that thought.
No matter what, there was no reason not to make armor to protect myself. The only problem was I couldn't walk around in in royal guard or Stormtrooper armor for the same reason I couldn't fly this ship around any longer than it took to get somewhere that was habitable.
I looked around until I found a set of drawers and opened one to find exactly what I was hoping for. I pulled out a set of clothes that were well beyond my size but that wouldn't be a big problem. I reached down into my bag and pulled out my sewing kit and got to work.
The clothes were going to be baggy, there wasn't much I could do about that. However, I could hem the legs and sleeves to fit length wise at least. I wasn't worried about it. I really only needed to wear these clothes until I could get to a store and… I paused mid-stitch as I had a sudden realization. In my rush to get out of there I had left my wallet in my new room. Meaning I had none of my identification or money.
That realization was going to set me behind. For now though I needed to make myself look much less huntable for sport.
Once the shirt was done I set it to the side and laid the pants and Royal Guard's plain leather jacket next to each other. I looked between them, my bag, and the armor stand. After weighing my options for a good few minutes, I decided it was time for some remodeling.
I put the Red Guard's helmet next to the others and threw the cape into the drawer where I had found the clothes before unclasping the armor and setting it next to the clothes.
Pulling a notebook from my bag I started removing the wiring from the suit, noting which wires went where, while I tried to keep it in as close to its original shape as I could. Once I had all the wires and battery pack out, I started deconstructing the chest armor. It was made out of a similar plastoid-composite material except it was slightly heavier, and more durable. If I had to guess, I would say their composite had been combined with a bit of durasteel in the forging process. Even so, the plates weren't blasterproof, especially to direct shots.
Once I had all the pieces separated, I grabbed the leather jacket, and my sewing kits seam ripper and began removing the leather jacket's lining. After making a few measurements I turned the jacket inside out and started using the lining to sew the armor pieces and wiring into place. Once it was done, I sat up and slipped on the jacket. It fit surprisingly snuggly despite being at least two sizes too big for me. I moved my arms around; thankful I had left the elbow pads out for mobility as the leather was restrictive enough. I repeated the process with the pants, setting the system up to activate the field whenever I zipped up the jacket instead of with any kind of button command before I moved on to the gauntlets.
Once again, the Royal Guard's gloves were of better quality than my Stormtrooper ones, but they were also significantly heavier. So, I used my multitool to remove about two-thirds of the plates, which I would replace with pieces from my stormtrooper gauntlets once I could power up a cutting torch. For now, I was just happy to get the size adjusted to fit my wrist, then set it next to the jacket.
Why stop there though? If I was going to steal his stuff, might as well steal everything. I picked up the force pike and examined the weapon. It was a very unique vibroblade for the fact that it didn't have a blade at all. It utilized vibro technology to create a concentrated nerve impulse, a lot like the stun setting on my E-11 blaster. The only difference is that at higher setting the vibro-edged head could cause paralysis or even death, and at max could slice cleanly through people and thin armor, again, even without a blade.
The issue was that it was huge. I couldn't carry something like this around, plus I had no training with staffs. I checked the stands belt for a vibroknife like the Royal Guard had personally carried but came up empty. Looking down at the tools before me my brain quickly came up with an interesting idea.
The system still worked the same as a normal vibro weapon, meaning it sent high-frequency sonic pulses through the pike to the power tip which generated vibration. That kind of system didn't make it better at cutting through armor or make the metal stronger. What it did was significantly increase the damage caused by even a simple cut.
With this information in mind I began disassembling the force pike and the left gauntlet. Unlike the right one, I left the hand guard on this one. Utilizing unused pieces from both gauntlets, and leftover pieces of the force pike to make a small contraption that rested on the back of the left handguard which was connected to the vibro-generator on the underside of the gauntlet along with the power source. With the contraption almost complete I took the largest needle out of my sewing kit and placed it in the device, sealing it around the thin, but very sharp tool.
Slipping the glove and gauntlet on, I was happy to find my measurements had been right, thought I couldn't risk turning on the battery to test it until I had jumped away from the Dreadnaught. The end of the contraption was flush with my knuckles when I balled up my first, and the activation button fell right into place against my middle knuckle. If I had wired it correctly, then when it was powered on, and the button got activated by me punching something, the needle would shoot out, vibrating even faster than most weapons of its kind due to its small size. This meant that despite it would hopefully pack one heck of a punch.
Unfortunately, that left me with only one more thing to do before I would have to resort to naps to pass the time. I pulled back out my Stormtrooper helmet and undid the clasps holding the bottom rebreather, visor, and actual helmet together. With them separated I tossed the visor and helmet back into my bag, then held the rebreather up to the Royal Guard's helmet. They were the same size, but unlike mine, the Royal Guard's helmet was one solid piece. However, with the tools in the back of the ship meant for repairs I could combine the two, though leaving the neck and head piece the same would bring me right back around to obviously being with the Empire.
First thing I was going to have to do once I landed was use the plasma cutter in the ships toolkit to cut a space for me to graft the rebreather on, then cut down the neck guard so it didn't cover the shoulders, and finally, replace the helmet part with… I turned and looked at the line of different helmets on display.
Two of them obviously caught my eye, the Beskar and the durasteel Mandalorian helmets. They would be heavy, but if I adjusted the neck guard properly it would provide enough support to counterbalance the extra weight. Plus, who cares about weight when it comes to protecting your most important muscle.
I found myself staring at the Beskar for a long time. It was extremely tempting as I looked at my own reflection in its nigh impenetrable shiny steel-like surface. There was only one issue. If a Mandolorian ever saw me wearing it or any Beskar, they would cut my head off then fill my body with enough blaster bolts that my inexistent children got heartburn. So, in the interest of my own wellbeing I decided on the durasteel helm.
Luckily, the Stormtrooper helmet was based off of the Mandalorian design so taking it apart was easy. That left me with the three parts mostly ready for construction.
Now that every task I had though of was complete, I was back to square one on the subject of boredom. Except now I had made a complete mess to the point I could no longer lay down and take a nap. So, I got to cleaning. I considered changing into my new clothes but decided keeping on the black body suit would be for the best, just in case something went wrong. With myself thoroughly jinxed I shoved everything into my bag and latched myself back into the chair.
Once firmly back in my safety harness I took some time to look around at the beautiful yet terrifying view. For some people seeing open space made them feel like they were falling. To me it always just felt like what it was, floating. Craning my neck I looked out the ships two side windows, trying to see if I recognized any of the clusters in the distance, but I was never very good at Astronomy.
Something nagged at me though as I looked out the side windows. Not because of something I saw, but something I didn't see. The dreadnought had been traveling perpendicular to me, and while it had been behind me, by this point it should have started creeping into view on the starboard side.
Unbuckling I went over to the window, pressing my face to the glass to try and see, but I couldn't get a great view with the pilots helmet on. Still, it should be there by now. I floated back over to my seat and strapped myself in, then pressed the button on purpose this time to return to a seated position.
Weighing my options for a good few minutes I eventually came to the decision that unless someone was playing a cruel joke on me and they had been following directly behind me this whole time to see where I would go, I should be a safe distance away to try small maneuvers.
Utilizing the flight stabilizers normally used for landing on space stations I did two quick bursts that started causing my ship to slowly spin around. I held my breath as I waited. If I was too close, they would have picked up the boosters on their scanner. If I was far enough away I would be able to get eyes on the ship every so often as I floated away, rotating around in a slow circle.
The speed of my rotation was hard to gauge without any kind of a landmark, but when so much time passed that I actually realized I was holding my breath and let it out I realized something was up. I started using specific stars as reference points, watching them float across from one side of the front window to the other.
After I had repeated this process 18 times I realized there was only one explanation. I was alone. Somehow while I was distracted, the dreadnought had jumped to hyperspace, leaving me alone in deep space.
I had already dealt with the terror of being alone in space for an hour so all I felt was an immediate wash of relief. I had done it. the Imperials were gone, and I should be too. Then I started to wonder how long ago they had jumped, and how much time I had wasted just sitting out here alone. That part didn't really matter as much though because I had done a lot of good work in that time.
I powered up the ship and pulled out my tablet. I had a plan for what I was going to do with the tablet once I landed, but for now I needed to find somewhere to land. Somewhere I could sell this ship and probably that Beskar helmet to make some spending money.
The Tion cluster was chock full of inhabited planets, but I couldn't go just anywhere. I needed to go somewhere the Empire did not have a strong presence. Somewhere I could sell this ship without people asking too many questions. Somewhere I could start my new life. And get to before I ran out of food because this is a very small ship.
It didn't take me long to find the perfect place. Well perfect is a bit of a stretch, but a place nonetheless.
Arramanx.
Soooooo hi! WAMMFFics here. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. This is my first FanFiction ever so there are a lot of things I still have to learn. Luckily, my partner has done this before so hopefully the learning curve will be quick. This is one of three stories I'm working on, two of them are original works, one of which can be found on our website (link in profile), and the other one cannot be read yet as it is a novel I am currently querying for (fingers crossed). I hope to post a new chapter for this every other Tuesday, and I'll give updates at the end of chapters if that's not going to work out. I'll also post updates on our twitter (WAMMLive). Finally since I'm shilling everything, we at WAMM do a podcast every Thursday on twitch (WAMMLive) and post the vods on YouTube (WAMM). We recently talked through the Kenobi series so if you want to see more StarWars content we got you covered. (All of our stuff is linked in the profile)